RAIN AND WET ROCK The sandstone around Moab is fragile and is very easily damaged when it is wet. MORE INFO >>>

Holds rip off and climbs have been and will continue to be permanently damaged due to climbers not respecting this phenomenon. After a heavy storm the rock will remain wet, sometimes for several days. PLEASE DO NOT CLIMB IN MOAB during or after rain.

This information is a public crowdsourcing effort between the Access Fund,
and Mountain Project.You should confirm closures, restrictions, and/or related dates.

Description

The Cobra is the wild short tower along the approach path to Ancient Art. How on earth is this thing still standing? Well named-it looks exactly like a hooded cobra rearing up to strike(which is appropriate considering the seriousness of the route).

Unfortunately, sometime during the first week of August 2014, it is suspected that The Cobra had succumb to severe weather and thunderstorms. The once proud, albeit precarious tower is no longer. There were no injuries and no one was present to witness it's sudden demise. This page will be left to preserve it's history.

Getting There

Follow the Ancient Art approach to the base of the formartion, which will be completely obvious.

Unfortunately, sometime during the first week of August 2014, it is suspected that The Cobra had succumb to severe weather and thunderstorms. The once proud, albeit precarious tower is no longer. There were no injuries and no one was present to witness its sudden demise. This page will be left to preserve its history.Crusher edit: Someone beat me to the update, thanks. RIP Cobra.I've seen pics of folks jumping up and down on the summit, and even pics of a with slack line rigged over the...[more]Browse More Classics in UT

What happens when you pull a full pitch worth of angles and spill your brains Jeremy? Is it any less likely than a base jumper dying? A4 nailing in mud is safe now? Hypocritical bullshit. At least you recognize that the impact of thousands of free ascents and subsequent raps off the summit may be as much a contributor as a few slack lines.

The Cobra was bound to fall off. Whether a user group accelerated the time-line is completely unmeasurable. Get off your high horses. Nature fucking happens. Do you cry when a hold breaks in Rifle? When a solid third of Les Drus fell off in Cham 10 years ago?

A slackline can produce 1000's lbs of force in the direction of line. A climber only acts in the direction of gravity. With the tilted cap stone, a slackline on this formation was a poor choice. I am sure they made a cool video, though.

Yeah, to back up Guy's comment, look at the upper third of the tower from this profile view. Looks like it could just slide right off...right in the direction of the slackline's force. Regardless of whether climbing had any impact on the Cobra, this just seems like a terrible idea. Not sure that climbing it was a much better idea, though, and I did it anyway....

Wait, which restrictions have been put on climbing in Arches due to the BASE/slacklining community? Last time I checked the reinforcement of the anchor ban resulted directly from the actions of a climber and pre-dated the explosion of slacklining, arch swinging, and other related shenanigans.

The Fishers are a shared resource. It unfortunately means that base jumpers, slack liners, climber and gawkers alike get to run around doing whatever the hell they want. At some point mountain bikers will invade the place too, lots of tasty spines to shred. The first unlucky idiot who gets hurt may be responsible for restrictions and the way I see it no user group is immune to bad luck. There are a lot more hikers than there are climbers in the Fishers and a lot more climber that there are base-jumpers. Sure, the latter are a lot more prone to dying than the former but they're not descending on the place in hordes.

I didn't mean to pick on you specifically even though I quoted your post. I'm trying to point out that blaming a user group for the fall of the Cobra is idiotic (you didn't blame anyone, others did). And blaming a user group for future closures is a gamble.